Gohan stared, slack-jawed at his mother. There was just no way he had heard her right. She couldn't be serious.
"You're kidding." He said, waiting for her furrowed brows to rise in happy arches, and her lips to curl up. His heart hammered frantically in his chest as Chichi's expression didn't change.
She's not joking! His brain screamed at him, sounding off sirens within his head and setting him into a panic. He managed to stumble into one of the kitchen chairs before his legs gave out.
"No. . . Just, no. There's no way I can do that, Mom. I can't!" He ran both of his hands through his hair. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Everything was normal when he went for his daily walk that afternoon. What went wrong? He visited his animal friends, went for a swim in the river, saw his friend Lime, and had even meditated with Piccolo for a bit beneath a beautiful waterfall.
When he came home, his mom was standing gravely at the table as if she'd just been called to war. While Gohan was gone, the mailman came, and with him, a single envelope with Gohan's future inside it.
"You have to, Gohan," Chichi said, taking out the statement from within the opened envelope. She handed it to him.
His stomach tightened. " Look at all of those zeros! Are you sure we owe this much, mom? "
Chichi nodded." The price of a good education is expensive."
"I can get a job!" Gohan exclaimed.
"I don't want you to neglect your studies and become a stupid delinquent!" Chichi said." Besides, we've already tried that. Remember? You were too strong and kept accidentally destroying things and scaring people."
Chichi picked up her wedding dress from the table and held it up in front of Gohan.
"We have no choice. I can't work, not when your brother needs me to take care of him at home. Your bride price will be enough to get us out of debt."
"I don't know. Can't we ask Bulma or Grandpa for money?"
"This isn't Bulma's problem, and your Grandpa already gave me money to buy your bed."
Gohan rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe his mom paid a lot of money for a bed that teaches him in his sleep. All it does is recite history and language to him like a dull radio, which he just tunes out as background noise.
Goten ran into the kitchen and jumped on Gohan's lap. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes.
"Did you have a good nap, squirt?" Gohan asked.
Goten nodded, then sleepily asked." Gohan, when you get married, does that mean I'll have another brother to play with?"
Gohan froze. He knew that mail order brides were mostly women or lady boys, and the one buying them were men. If he got married, then he'd definitely be married to a man.
Chichi smiled, feeling no guilt for what she was asking her son to do." I wouldn't mind having another son, but you never know. There could be a woman out there looking for a husband."
"Unlikely," Gohan commented. He carefully took Goten off his lap, snatched the dress, and sourly mumbled." At least let me wear a suit."
a/n: Mwahahaha. Welcome to another strange story of mine! This is a "just for fun fic," meaning you shouldn't expect anything serious from me. I just harbor resentment towards men when it comes to societies' standards, and this is an outlet. Gohan is the victim *_*